More than one federal district judge appears to have had enough with Righthaven's strategy of buying copyrights from various media sources (usually in Nevada) and then suing for copyright infringement under federal law without so much as a form cease and desist letter. (For details on the Righthaven plan of action and its early success, read my prior posts on the subject.)
The worm turns.
Federal judges setting in more than one state don't seem to think that Righthaven is doing the right thing, apparently. Standing has been found wanting. Fair use has been found. Copyright has been determined not to be at issue in the first place.
For a nice recap of these various court opinions, read David Kravets' article in Wired's June 20, 2011 issue, "Righthaven Loss: Judge Rules Reposting Entire Article Is Fair Use."
Today's news: Righthaven isn't paying attorneys' fees.
This morning, TechDirt reports that Righthaven is avoiding paying around $3000 in attorneys' fees to a defendant even though it's been ordered to do so by a federal judge. The company has asked the court for a 30 day stay ... doesn't sound smart, but we'll see what happens.